Looking back over thousands of years to Pharaonic or Christian Egypt, the eye always meets that intensive pursuit of perfection, in a permanent struggle between culture and nature. The absolute drive of the Egyptians to continue one’s individual existence can be met in building, statuary and religion, to quote a few aspects, but especially in the latter. The confrontation with this intense culture is what makes Egypt so fascinating for my students and myself, especially when listening to the authentic voices of the erstwhile inhabitants—that is, through the written sources. My personal interests are magic, ritual and the language of Pharaonic Egypt.
The reconstruction of their world-view: whether a cosmogonical record, magic, a story or a simple letter: language and form testify to a balancedness that keeps amazing me every day, even though I am well aware that most of the material derives from a cultural elite.